1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an electronic device having a display function, and more particularly, to an electronic device and operating method therefor in which the display function is performed using image processing information in order to reduce current consumption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent advances in digital technologies have resulted in the development of various types of electronic devices supporting communication and personal information processing, such as mobile communication terminals, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), electronic notes, smartphones, and tablet computers. In particular, high-end electronic devices have evolved into mobile convergence devices supporting heterogeneous functions, which originated from distinct fields. For example, a high-end electronic device may support various functions related to calls (voice call and video call), messages (Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), electronic mail, etc.), navigation, image capture, broadcast reception and display, media playback (video and music), Internet, instant messengers, and Social Networking Services (SNSs).
For the display function of an electronic device, the contrast ratio generally refers to a ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the electronic device can produce. For example, when an electronic device has a contrast ratio of 1000:1, this indicates that the difference between the brightest screen and the darkest screen that the electronic device can produce may be large. The contrast ratio is more influenced by dark colors than by bright colors. When the contrast ratio is high, colors can be easily and clearly distinguished. Hence, the contrast ratio supported by an electronic device may have a strong influence on the overall quality, such as visibility, perceived by a user viewing an image displayed the screen of the electronic device.
The contrast ratio perceived by the user may vary in the presence of light from surroundings or ambient illumination, and hence, the visibility of the screen produced by an electronic device may vary. For example, the same screen may appear to be brighter in a darker viewing environment (e.g., at night) and may appear to be darker in a brighter viewing environment (e.g., in daylight). When the perceived contrast ratio is decreased due to ambient illumination, the brightness range not perceived by the user (e.g., an imperceivable region) may increase.
Schemes to improve visibility in the presence of ambient light from surroundings (e.g., automatically changing screen brightness according to ambient illumination) have been proposed for electronic devices. However, such schemes consider only factors to improve visibility to the user, but fail to consider current consumption of the electronic device caused by the attempted improvement of the visibility.